In 2005, Chris Ford says he wanted to create a “mom and pop,” “made-from-scratch” barbecue in Knoxville.

That’s when he created his homegrown catering business, Sweet P’s, run with his wife and daughter from their West Knoxville kitchen.

Today, his catering business has grown to include two popular barbecue restaurants – Sweet P’s Barbeque and Soul House at 3725 Maryville Pike and Sweet P’s Downtown Dive at 410 West Jackson Ave.

He picked the name because “I was just looking for something that felt Southern, that anybody could relate to, even kids. I thought it was a good, relate-able name.”

The heart and soul of the whole operation is, of course, the barbecue. Ford runs the business with his partner and cousin, Jonathan Ford. The businesses offer two kinds of barbecue – North Carolina vinegar-based barbecue and traditional tomato-sauce barbecue made from scratch by the Fords.

Previously a musician, Ford says his love of Southern cuisine helped start the whole thing. By 2008, the success of the catering business prompted Ford to bring his cousin into the business and open the first restaurant, Sweet P’s Barbeque and Soul House.

It’s located on Stock Creek, a tributary of Fort Loudoun Lake.

“It’s out-of-the-way, off the beaten path, a whole lot of fun and a hole in the wall,” Ford said. “We wanted to focus on food and good music, with an old-fashioned juke box playing old soul, old country, Southern rock. It’s a place to bring the kids. We wanted it to be a family atmosphere, but also have a dive juke joint atmosphere to it.”

Then, in 2010, the restaurant was featured on the Travel Channel’s “Man Versus Food.” Appearances on the “Face of America” on the Cooking Network and “Tennessee Crossroads” followed. “It really put us on the map,” Ford said.

By the spring of 2015, the Fords’ second location, Sweet P’s Downtown Dive, opened on Jackson Avenue, a block from the Old City, filling a barbecue void in the downtown community.

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Sweet P’s menu is a modern take on soul food classics. Ford says everything is made fresh daily, using the highest quality meats.

He says he has a “real simple menu” of pork barbecue from pork butts and grilled barbecue chicken breasts with sides of homemade potato salad, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, greens and things (his special way of making greens) and a tomato and blue cheese salad – one of the most popular things on the menu.

He thanks his mother and friends for having a penchant for cooking.

“I grew up in a house where mom cooked a big dinner every single night,” Ford said. “She got me comfortable with cooking. The barbecue sauce is a 50-50 invention. I had a friend who did barbecue, and he was a big help. He had a great vinegar sauce. The thing I love about barbecue is it’s a community food. It’s where families can come together with friends.”